Gojo came calling

My living conditions had improved, but the mental pressure had only grown worse.

Although I had successfully used my authority as the young clan head to cancel Etiquette Class and swept out in style while the Seventh Elder looked utterly aggrieved, everything came at a price.

The next day, the Seventh Elder came looking for me again.

The weather was lovely, the sun shining brightly. I sat in the courtyard, soaking up the sunshine and petting the dog. The moment I saw him approach, half my good mood vanished.

I said, "Didn't we cancel Etiquette Class?"

What are you doing here, then?

The Seventh Elder's expression was calm as he looked at the girl lounging comfortably in her chair. After a long moment, a mysterious smile spread across his face.

"Miss Kuang Wu." He smiled so happily, yet a chill ran down my back.

"Since you don't want to attend Etiquette Class, we put our heads together... Starting today, you'll officially begin hand-to-hand combat and jujutsu lessons. As it happens, I'll be your teacher again."

Me: "..."

Instead of becoming more comfortable, life had only grown harder.

But hand-to-hand combat and jujutsu were both essential. If I wanted to survive in Jujutsu Society, I couldn't do without either.

...I just hadn't expected to start learning so soon.

Sure enough, people born into big feudal clans never got to have a childhood.

And so, I went back to taking lessons.

After taking hand-to-hand combat and jujutsu lessons for a while, I felt like I was dying inside.

Jujutsu wasn't too bad. My father in this life had said I possessed an enormous amount of cursed energy, and the Seventh Elder confirmed it during our lessons. My shikigami's output and duration were both extremely stable, and the Seventh Elder seemed very pleased.

It was just my grasp of theory that fell short-"Like an idiot with brute strength and no brains."

-Although the Seventh Elder never actually said that, his eyes conveyed it with brutal clarity.

Across both my lives, no one had ever looked at me like I was an idiot, and it left me feeling subtly displeased.

If he was trying to provoke me, he had succeeded.

So I shifted my focus in jujutsu lessons to theory. Fortunately, it paid off, and I picked up all sorts of strange knowledge.

For instance, how to cast the barrier called a "curtain" that I'd seen last time; how revealing your cursed technique could strengthen its effects; how to estimate a cursed spirit's grade...

Besides that, there were plenty of strange objects imbued with cursed energy. I learned the difference between cursed tools and cursed objects, and also learned a little about barrier techniques and Tengen.

After all, the Zenin Clan was one of the Three Great Families and had survived for a thousand years. Its library held quite a few secrets of Jujutsu Society, so I picked up plenty of juicy gossip between my studies, too.

Two months passed like that.

Apparently, those old fossils with one foot in the grave really were slow at getting things done. They had clearly agreed to hold a succession ceremony for the young clan head, yet somehow managed to drag it out this long.

Winter was almost over now, and spring was on its way.

The courtyard where I lived was much larger than before, and there were no more dead little trees in it.

Perhaps the servants thought I would like them, because the entire courtyard was filled with cherry trees. With early spring approaching, flower buds had appeared on many of their branches.

I thought the cherry blossoms would probably bloom before long.

Before I knew it, I had been in this world for almost half a year.

Looking at the new flower buds on the trees in the courtyard, I fell into a daze.

"Young Master Gojo! Young Master Gojo, you can't go in! Wait-"

A sudden commotion came from outside the courtyard.

"Finally found you!" I looked up and saw the white-haired boy, who had no business being here, perched on a cherry tree branch with an excited look on his face.

The cherry tree was so tall that I hadn't even noticed him at first.